optischervsoptischesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“optischer” and “optisches” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,291
“optischer” frequency rank
#48,363
“optisches” frequency rank
82654
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature optischer optisches
Definition Nominativ Singular Maskulinum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs optisch Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs optisch

Where the eye mixes optischer and optisches

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

9 ch
optischer
9 ch
optisches

Why the eye confuses optischer with optisches

A purely visual mix-up. optischer ([ˈɔptɪʃɐ]) and optisches ([ˈɔptɪʃəs]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - r in “optischer” becomes s in “optisches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

optischer is recorded at frequency rank #34,291, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔptɪʃɐ]. optisches is at rank #48,363, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈɔptɪʃəs].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 82654, this pair ranks #153,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of optischer vs optisches

Shared letters: cehiopst. Private to "optischer": r. Private to "optisches": -.

"optischer" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC  ·  "optisches" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • optischeropitscher · opptischer · opticsher · optisccher · optiscehr · optischerr · optischher · optischre
  • optischesopitsches · opptisches · opticshes · optiscches · optiscehs · optischess · optischhes · optischse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "optischer" and "optisches" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈɔptɪʃɐ] versus [ˈɔptɪʃəs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "optischer" vs "optisches" - which ranks higher?
"optischer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,291 in our German list, against #48,363 for "optisches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "optischer" and "optisches" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "optischer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "optisches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #153,361 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "optischer" and "optisches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "optischen vs optisches". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #153,361 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list